Economic Numbers

Almost every trading day there are announcements by various government agencies and other organizations providing figures about the state of the economic environment. To see a listing of upcoming economic announcements for the United States take a look at the Economic Events page.

Example of what the Economic Events page looked like on 16 July 2010. Click the image for the latest data.

Examples of these announcements are the CPI, PPI, Consumer Sentiment, Housing Starts etc.

Traders (especially day traders and scalpers) need to be acutely aware of when these announcements will take place as they will often trigger a quick move in the market. Some traders specialize in these announcements and have strategies that will allow them to take advantage of these sudden moves and will specifically trade them. Other traders will intentionally remove all positions before the announcement and "go flat" until after the post-announcement knee-jerk reaction is complete.